A New Jersey appeals court has upheld local approval of the proposed plans for Bais Yaakov of Jackson (Bais Faiga), TLS has learned, rejecting a lawsuit filed by neighboring property owners who challenged the project on environmental, procedural, and ethics grounds.

In their 18-page decision, the Appellate Division, affirmed a lower-court ruling that the Jackson Township Planning Board acted properly when it approved a major site plan for Bais Yaakov of Jackson, Inc.

The project calls for construction of a four-building, all-girls school campus on roughly 38 acres, including an elementary school, two high schools, and a gymnasium designed to serve about 2,350 students and 250 staff members.

Neighbors who sued over the approval argued the board relied on flawed environmental information, improperly granted zoning relief related to parking and site design, failed to adequately address traffic and septic-system concerns, and allowed participation by a planning board chairman they claimed had a conflict of interest.

Both the trial court and appellate judges rejected those claims.

The appellate panel said courts must give substantial deference to municipal land-use decisions and found no evidence the board’s action was “arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable.”

The Judges also concluded that an environmental impact statement submitted by the applicant met township requirements and that a discrepancy involving state habitat-ranking maps for threatened or endangered species did not affect the outcome because the area in question would remain undisturbed.

The court further upheld a trial judge’s decision denying requests to expand the record to investigate an alleged conflict involving the planning board chairman and the applicant’s attorney, calling the connection “too remote” to demonstrate bias or impairment of judgment.

The ruling leaves intact the planning board’s approval, which remains subject to required permits and approvals from other government agencies.